KABUL (Pajhwok): Pakistan’s pharmaceutical exports fell by 30.26 per cent in the 2026 financial year, with trade disruptions with Afghanistan cited as a major reason for the decline, a media report said.
Citing data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Bol News reported that pharmaceutical exports fell to $319.012 million in FY2026 from $457.456 million in FY2025, a decline of $138.444 million.
The volume of exported medicines also dropped by 26.14 per cent, from 112,517 tonnes to 83,104 tonnes.
The decline continued in the first quarter of FY2027, from July to September 2026, when export earnings fell by 25.53 per cent to $73.301 million, compared with $98.428 million in the same period a year earlier.
The volume of exports during the three-month period also decreased by 31.4 per cent, from 23,924 tonnes to 16,410 tonnes.
The report said the average declared export value per tonne rose by around 8.6 per cent in the first quarter of FY2027, from $4,115 to $4,469. However, the average value per tonne for FY2026 fell by around 5.6 per cent compared with the previous financial year.
It noted that these changes could reflect differences in the types and composition of exported medicines rather than changes in their prices.
Afghanistan was a major market for Pakistani medicines before trade disruptions between the two countries, the report said.
Data from the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan’s pharmaceutical portal show that Pakistan exported medicines worth $155.68 million to Afghanistan in FY2025, accounting for around 34.1 per cent of its total pharmaceutical exports that year.
Trade disruptions with Afghanistan have been cited as a major factor behind the decline in pharmaceutical exports. Separate reporting by Business Recorder also identified higher transport costs as a contributing factor.
The export figures exclude surgical equipment and medical instruments.
sa
